Privacy Policy, The Spore Trail

This is a draft, not legal advice. It's written to be a reasonable, honest starting point under the GDPR (DSGVO), but it hasn't been reviewed by a German lawyer or data protection professional. Have it checked before you rely on it, especially the sections on hosting/form providers and international data transfer.

Who is responsible for your data

The controller (Verantwortlicher) responsible for data processing on this site is:

Reem Elsayed
Amandastraße 74
20357 Hamburg
Germany
Email: info@thesporetrail.com

Full legal details are also listed in our Impressum.

What data we collect, and why

When you sign up for a walk using the form on our join page, we collect your first name, last name, email address, which walk you selected, your self-reported experience level, and anything you choose to add in the message field. This is used only to plan the walk, confirm your spot, and contact you about it. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR, taking steps at your request before entering into, or to fulfil, an informal arrangement to join a walk.

When you leave a comment on a journal entry, we collect the name and comment text you submit, plus whatever you tell us about the walk. Comments are reviewed before publishing (see below), and are only published with your consent. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, your consent, given by submitting the form.

When you email us directly, we process whatever information you include, only to answer your message. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, our legitimate interest in responding to inquiries.

Comment moderation

Comments submitted through this site are not published automatically. They're reviewed by the organizer first, and only added to the site if approved. Submitting a comment does not guarantee it will be published, and comments may be edited lightly for length or clarity before posting.

Hosting and form processing

This site is built to run on any static host, currently Cloudflare Pages (Cloudflare, Inc.). Cloudflare processes basic site traffic data as a processor on our behalf while serving the pages. Its sign-up and comment forms use Web3Forms to deliver submissions by email, a third-party service that processes form data (including from EU visitors) as a processor on our behalf. You should confirm both providers' current data processing terms and international transfer safeguards before publishing this site, and add direct links to Cloudflare's and Web3Forms' own privacy policies here.

Cookies and analytics

This site does not currently use cookies, tracking pixels, or analytics of any kind. If that changes, for example if analytics are added later, this section will be updated first, and a cookie consent banner will be added if required.

How long we keep your data

Sign-up data is kept only as long as needed to plan and follow up on the relevant walk, and is deleted afterward unless you've asked to stay on a contact list for future walks. You can ask us to delete your data at any time, see "Your rights" below.

Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the right to access the data we hold about you, correct it, request its deletion, restrict its processing, receive a copy in a portable format, and object to processing based on legitimate interest. To exercise any of these, contact us at info@thesporetrail.com.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. For organizers based in Hamburg, the relevant authority is:

Der Hamburgische Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit (HmbBfDI)
Ludwig-Erhard-Straße 22, 20459 Hamburg
hmbbfdi@datenschutz.hamburg.de